The move was made in light of the current epidemiology and the wider availability of surgical masks and other personal protective equipment. The lighter restriction level will apply to all dental practitioners.

Both the AHPPC and the Australian Dental Board outlined this change can only be taken in consultation with any State-based regulations. Where the State regulations are tougher, they will take precedent. The Australian Dental Board will be advising all dental practitioners today.

We will continue to monitor any changes to the dental industry, along with any news relevant to wider business.

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Level 2, according to these guidelines allows for the provision of dental treatments that are unlikely to generate aerosols, or where aerosols generated have the presence of minimal saliva or blood due to the use of a rubber dam.

You can read more about Level 2 restrictions, along with the other levels and the rest of the framework for dentistry.

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If you have registered your interest in the Commonwealth JobKeeper Payment, you should have received news from the Australian Taxation Office that enrolments are now open.

There are a few steps involved, along with forms for both employer and employee to fill out, making it necessary for most to start the process now.

To aid in this exercise, we have summarised the steps involved and provided links below.

Claiming the JobKeeper Payment on behalf of your employees

1. Eligibility

• Determine the eligibility of your business to participate in the JobKeeper Payment scheme. This includes being able to demonstrate a 30% drop in turnover as a result of COVID-19.
   
• Determine the eligibility of your staff to receive payments. Each employee must have been actively employed in the business on 1 March 2020. They must be older than 16 years of age and not currently receiving any Government payments that conflict with the JobKeeper Payment.
   

2. Enrol

• Contact each employee you plan to nominate. You must ensure they are not nominated through another company, as they can only receive the payment once. Send each employee the JobKeeper Employee nomination notice. This must be returned to you by the end of the month and kept on file.
   
• Enrol the business through the ATO. There are three ways you can do this.
  
  1. Through the ATO Business Portal
  2. Using ATO Online Services through MyGov (for sole traders)
  3. Using a registered tax or BAS agent
  
  Instructions can be found here
   
• Identify and maintain your eligible employees with the ATO. There are a few different ways to do this depending on your payroll software and your number of employees. You can find instructions here.
   
• Make a business monthly declaration. You can do this through your tax agent, or via the ATO Business Portal. Each month you will need to reconfirm your eligible employees as well as make a GST turnover estimate. This is not a means test, but a measure of business progress under the JobKeeper Payment scheme.
   

3. Payments

• Payments will be made to employers via the bank details provided in their enrolment form.
   
• JobKeeper payments are paid to employers in arrears.
   
• Employers must pay their employees (a minimum of $1500 per fortnight) during the applicable pay period and be reimbursed by the ATO. If you are claiming for the two fortnights in April, you will need to ensure your employees are paid the minimum before the end of this month.
   
• In order to remain eligible for the JobKeeper Payment, employers must continue to pay nominated employees a minimum of $1,500 per fortnight, regardless of their normal earnings.
   
• The JobKeeper Payment is considered assessable income for the business receiving the subsidy and normal deductibility rules apply. The payments are not subject to GST.
  
   

Important things to note:

If any employees leave your business during the duration of the JobKeeper Payment scheme, you must make the ATO aware. This can be done through the business monthly declaration.

If your employees have been stood down and are currently receiving other payments eg. Job Seeker, they must contact Services Australia to let them know you have applied for JobKeeper on their behalf in order to avoid a payable debt.

Should you have a question you would like answered in an update, please send it through here.

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This update was issued on 21 April 2020 and please note that changes in circumstances after the publication of material or information may impact upon its accuracy and also change regulatory compliance obligations. The statements, regulatory and technical information contained herein are believed to be accurate and are provided for information purposes only. Readers are responsible for assessing its relevance and verifying the accuracy of the content. To the fullest extent permitted by law, ADIA will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred in relation to or arising as a result of relying on the information presented here.

This publication is available for your use under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence, with the exception of the ADIA logo, other images and where otherwise stated.

Federal Parliament met yesterday in order to debate the Commonwealth JobKeeper Payment.

The key baseline financial support legislation for businesses for the next six months has now been passed by Parliament.

As of yesterday, 750,000 businesses had registered to take part in the program. If you have not already registered, you can still do so via the ATO website.

The $1,500 fortnightly per employee payment will be available from May. Some of the main points to consider are below. Alternatively, you can read the updated fact sheet from the ATO here.

• Payments will start in May, however they will be backdated to March 30. If you are in a position to do so, the Government encourage you to start paying your employees now and you will be reimbursed next month.
• Eligible employers will be required to demonstrate a 30% drop in income as a result of COVID-19.
• The entire $1,500 must be passed on to each eligible employee, regardless of what their usual pay rate is.
• If your employees are still working and earn more than $1,500 per fortnight, the payment should be used to subsidise those wages, not in addition to.
• The $1,500 payment is before tax.
• No superannuation contribution is required on the $1,500 payment.
• If you are applying for employees that you have already stood down, you must make them aware as quickly as possible. They in turn must alert Services Australia to ensure they are receiving the correct payment.

For more resources relating to business support and the Economic Response to Coronavirus, please check the COVID-19 section of the ADIA website.

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This publication is available for your use under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence, with the exception of the ADIA logo, other images and where otherwise stated.

On Tuesday 7 April, the National Cabinet released a mandatory code of conduct relating to commercial tenancies during the COVID-19 crisis.

National Cabinet Mandatory Code of Conduct - SME Commercial Leasing Principles During COVID-19

The Code will be adopted and legislated at State and Territory level. Its purpose as laid out in the document itself is:

"to impose a set of good faith leasing principles for application to commercial tenancies (including retail, office and industrial) between owners/operators/other landlords and tenants where the tenant is an eligible business for the purpose of the Commonwealth Government's JobKeeper programme."

The Code has been created as a means to generate temporary arrangements that evenly distribute the liability created by COVID-19 between landlords and tenants as businesses go into 'hibernation' or significantly downscale during the crisis. It is expected that tenants who can demonstrate financial hardship but are still able to trade will continue to pay rent in some capacity.

The Code contains a set of overarching principles intended to be used as a guideline for all parties. These principles will guide tailored temporary arrangements on a case by case basis. Some of these are outlined below.

• SME is defined as a business with annual turnover of up to $50 million
• The tenant must be able to demonstrate financial distress as a result of COVID-19 (defined by eligibility for the Commonwealth JobKeeper program - having a demonstrable loss of 30% of income)
• Landlords and tenants will negotiate in good faith
• The Code will not supersede State legislation but aims to complement it during the pandemic period (as defined by the length of time the JobKeeper program is
• Arrangements are expected to be proportionate, based on the pandemic's specific impact on revenue, expenses and profitability (there is an example of proportionality in Appendix 1 of the Code)
• The parties will assist each other when dealing with relevant stakeholders (government, financial institutions, utility companies etc) in order to achieve arrangements consistent with the objectives of the Code
• National Cabinet expects Australian and foreign financial institutions to support landlords and tenants as they work to implement the mandatory Code
• It is expected arrangements under the Code will include a reasonable recovery period.

Following the overarching principles outlined in the Code, the Leasing Principles section clearly lays out the specific requirements that must be satisfied when drafting a temporary agreement.

These include landlords being unable to terminate a lease due to non-payment of rent as a result of COVID-19, along with the requirement that tenants must remain committed to the terms of their lease and arrangements made under the Code. Failure to do so will result in the loss of protections provided by the Code. It also stipulates any repayments of rental deferrals will be amortised over the remainder of the lease or for a period of no less than 24 months, whichever is greater.

In the definition section of the Code, financial hardship, waivers, deferrals and proportionate are all outlined for those seeking clarity when creating new arrangements.

Read the entire Code here.

You can also visit the COVID-19 section of the ADIA website for additional resources.

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This update was issued on 8 April 2020 and please note that changes in circumstances after the publication of material or information may impact upon its accuracy and also change regulatory compliance obligations. The statements, regulatory and technical information contained herein are believed to be accurate and are provided for information purposes only. Readers are responsible for assessing its relevance and verifying the accuracy of the content. To the fullest extent permitted by law, ADIA will not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred in relation to or arising as a result of relying on the information presented here.

This publication is available for your use under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence, with the exception of the ADIA logo, other images and where otherwise stated.